


tell our stories on these walls

by FantasyDeath, volaris



Series: Monthly KuZu Mini-Prompts [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Dorks in Love, Ficlet, Love, M/M, Monthly KuZu Mini-Prompts, One Shot, POV Zuko (Avatar), Rare Pairings, Short, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Vampire Hunter Zuko (Avatar), Vampire Hunters, Vampire Kuei (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27079399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasyDeath/pseuds/FantasyDeath, https://archiveofourown.org/users/volaris/pseuds/volaris
Summary: Zuko isn't a very good vampire hunter but luckily, Kuei isn't a very good vampire.
Relationships: Kuei/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Monthly KuZu Mini-Prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976365
Comments: 1
Kudos: 39
Collections: Monthly KuZu Mini-Prompts





	tell our stories on these walls

**Author's Note:**

> Due to mental health reasons, I do not accept constructive criticisms on my fanfics. For me, fanfiction is a way to relax, not a writing exercise. Do not ask if a work is abandoned (it will say so in the summary in that case) and do not comment only to ask (or demand) an update. Do not whine at me to make a one-shot multi-chapter.
> 
> **Monthly KuZu Mini-Prompts 2020 October: Vampires ******

Zuko walked through the hallway with his hands held out in front of him. He wouldn't be caught by surprise if a trap sprung. Just the fact that he had been forced to run into this ancient palace was a humiliation. The fact that his uncle had followed after him made something chafe in his chest. He didn't want to be the reason that his uncle was thrown out — exiled from the organization that he'd been born into.

The palace was old. It rose high above his head when he'd forced his way inside. Zuko had no idea whose palace this was, but from prior experience, it had to be the home of a vampire.

The scent of death and decay hung in the air.

His fists sparked flame as he used the light of his own fire to guide his path. The place was quiet — far too quiet. It made his shoulders tense and his eyes glance wearily around him. He knew that there was something there, something waiting in the darkness. Something that his training told him to kill.

He came upon a big pair of doors, after wandering the palace uninterrupted for nearly an hour. Big, gaudy, and covered in dust and grime, as neglected as the rest of this palace. The doors were heavy too; he had to put his entire weight on them in order to get them to budge. But eventually, they did. They creaked when they slowly opened, Zuko's fire casting shadows into the large room revealed.

The first he saw was scrolls. On the dusty floor, on high bookshelves — yellowing scrolls with fading ink on the edge of falling apart. Out of curiosity, he picked one up and uncurled it in his hands. He was no stranger to old scrolls, his family was proud of their legacy and had kept everything they possibly could. This one had to be even older than their most ancient ones though. It almost felt like it would fall apart in his hands. Zuko carefully put it back where he found it, his fire receding until they weren't at risk of making this whole archive (because it _must_ be an archive) go up in flames.

He could hear something. Zuko's fire went out with naught but a thought. He crept between the high shelves and slowly approached the origin of the sound. The closer he got to it, the more he could make out what it was. It nearly sounded like... muttering? But that couldn't be right.

No, it could be. If it was a _vampire_.

Zuko's eyes narrowed. His vision in the damaged one wasn't the best, and in the darkness, he could hardly see out of it. A weakness. One that the heir of the best vampire-hunting organization in the world couldn't have, nevermind that it was his father that—

He took a deep breath. Held it in until the count of ten. Let it out.

There was a vampire somewhere. He needed to _focus_.

He turned the last corner. Vaguely, he could make out f humanoid figure in the dark. His eyes had started adjusting and he could just about make out their general shape. Humanoid, likely male, with a very bulky body. A mess of fabric covered them. Slowly, one of Zuko's hand shifted to the sheath of his swords. 

The vampire looked up. They fumbled with their scroll. It fell to the floor with a clatter and Zuko automatically winced at the loud sound in the otherwise death silent location. 

"Hello!" The vampire clambered up to their feet. They dusted off their robes at the same time as Zuko's fire lit up the space around them again. He had already been discovered, there was no reason to submit himself to bad vision. That would be a disadvantage in a fight that he might not afford. The vampire blinked rapidly at the sudden light, their bright green eyes glowing from the light. 

Zuko was already in a ready to fight position when the vampire took a step closer to him. "Don't move," Zuko ordered. 

The vampire stumbled to a stop. They licked their lips, fangs peeking out between them. In the light, Zuko could tell that they were male-presenting. The vampire's eyes looked over Zuko, the gaze examining every part of him. When he moved to take another step, his foot hit one of the scrolls on the floor around the vampire. Gasping, the vampire immediately bent down and started picking up the scrolls. When he stood back up again, he had over a dozen scrolls collected in his bosom.

"Did you come here for something?" the vampire asked as he started to slowly walk over to a nearby table. Why he had been reading on the floor when there was a table right next to him, Zuko didn't understand. Intermittently, scrolls would threaten to fall out of the vampire's grip and the vampire would frantically try to catch them.

Zuko looked at his fire. Then he looked at the sword he held in his other hand. Then he looked at the vampire's back as they gently put the scrolls down on the table.

"I am a vampire hunter," he said. The vampire whipped around and stared with wide eyes at Zuko. They lit up and the vampire smiled at him.

"I have lots of scrolls about vampire-hunting!" the vampire announced. 

Zuko blinked again. He furrowed his eyebrows. "Aren't _you_ a vampire?"

"Yes," the vampire nodded. "I am Kuei, former king of the Earth Kingdom! Nowadays I just maintain my archive though. It's been a while since I've added anything to it..." the vampire frowned and looked at Zuko with a pleading expression, "You wouldn't have any books with you?"

"I'm sure my uncle has some," Zuko said after a second of silence. Putting his sword away in the sheath again was stupid of him. Coming to this palace in the first place was stupid. Getting split up from his uncle because he got distracted by a mural was stupid of him. Yet, Zuko's hands moved before his mind caught up with them. Yet, he had entered this palace because it seemed like the better alternative to getting killed by his sister. Yet, he had wandered deeper and deeper into the palace instead of retracing his steps and tracking down his uncle. 

Zuko was a fool. 

"Hmm. I think the most recent vampire-hunting scrolls are over..." Zuko followed behind Kuei as the vampire lead the way through the gigantic archive. As he walked, he could hear his sister's voice chiding him in his head. He should be attacking the vampire. He should be doing what he had been raised to do. He shouldn't be following behind it, letting it lead him to potential traps.

But his sister had just tried to kill. His father had banished him until he could kill a mythical vampire that hadn't been seen in over a hundred years. His uncle had gone into exile with him. Zuko had had to enter this palace in order to escape troops from the organization he had been born into. 

In comparison with everything else, maybe it wouldn't be that bad, if Kuei led him into a trap.

**Author's Note:**

> [KuZu discord server](https://discord.gg/meexQD4)


End file.
